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Mystery deepens, questions build in North Korea princeling death

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Friday, February 17, 2017 - 7 months ago No Comments 1,436 Views

What do we really know about the sudden death of an exiled North Korean princeling? Aside from heated media speculation and an instant “it’s-gotta-be-Pyongyang” reaction from Seoul’s spy agency, not much. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service — no friend to Pyongyang — and eager reporters across Asia have assembled a dramatic, almost cinematic profile of the last hour of Kim’s life. But there’s still a surfeit of unanswered questions. Here are a few:

WAS HE POISONED?

This one could be answered fairly soon. Kim complained of being sprayed in the face with some sort of chemical before he died. Presumably Malaysian authorities’ autopsy, which has been completed, will determine whether poison killed Kim, and, if so, what kind.

A big question is how possible killers would have managed to quickly inflict a fatal chemical dose on someone in the middle of a busy airport.

South Korea’s intelligence service says Kim almost certainly was poisoned, but it’s unclear whether a needle or spray was used, and the spy agency didn’t elaborate.

One possibility for the poison is neostigmine bromide, which South Korean officials said was contained in a pen-like weapon used in a failed North Korean attempt to kill an anti-Pyongyang activist in 2011. Or it could have been cyanide or sarin gas, which was used in a deadly attack on Tokyo’s subways in 1995.

WAS IT REALLY NORTH KOREA?

North Korea, of course, is the easy answer. South Korea’s spy service considers the North the bogeyman and almost immediately, in a private briefing to lawmakers in Seoul, pointed the finger at North Korean agents for the death, saying that Kim Jong Nam had been targeted for five years because of Kim Jong Un’s “paranoia.”

WHO ARE THE ARRESTED WOMEN?

The two women arrested in connection with Kim’s death were spotted on surveillance video at the airport where Kim fell ill.

Both are reportedly in their 20s. One held an Indonesian passport. The other had Vietnamese travel documents and was seen in grainy photos waiting for a cab while wearing a white jumper emblazoned with “LOL” — internet-speak for Laugh Out Loud.

But their possible involvement in Kim’s death is still unclear. Were they simply in the wrong place at the wrong time? Were they North Korean agents, maybe even North Korean nationals using false passports? Kim Jong Nam, in one of his lowest moments, was humiliated while trying to sneak into Japan to visit Disneyland — with a Dominican passport.

Police are trying to verify if the women’s travel documents are genuine, according to the Malaysian minister. Police said they have also arrested a third suspect, a Malaysian man thought to be the boyfriend of the suspect with an Indonesian passport.

ARE OTHER EXILED NORTH KOREANS IN DANGER?

South Korea’s government said it was boosting security for high-profile defectors in the South, many of whom already have police protection.

Kim Jong Nam was long protected in his Macau base by China, according to Seoul’s spy service. South Korean officials say he leaves behind two sons and a daughter between two different women living in Beijing and Macau.

Ha Taekeung, a South Korean lawmaker and North Korea human rights activist, said in a radio interview yesterday that Kim Jong Nam’s son, Kim Han Sol, could be in danger because he knows sensitive secrets about Kim Jong Un’s personal life. Kim Han Sol, who lived with his father in Macau, referred to Kim Jong Un as a “dictator” in a 2012 interview. AP

2 women, 1 man arrested

Two women and a man have been arrested in the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leader’s half brother who was reportedly poisoned this week by a pair of female assassins as he waited for a flight in Malaysia, police said yesterday .The suspects were picked up separately Wednesday and yesterday. The female suspects were identified using surveillance footage from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where Kim Jong Nam suddenly fell ill Monday morning before dying on the way to the hospital. One of the women had Vietnamese travel documents and the other held an Indonesian passport. There was no immediate way to determine if the IDs were genuine or if the women, both apparently in their 20s, were believed to be the alleged assassins.

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